4of14Venezuelan General Prosecutor Luisa Ortega Diaz, third left, is surrounded by loyal employees of the General Prosecutor's office, as she was barred from entering her office by security forces, outside of the General Prosecutor headquarters in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Aug. 5, 2017. Security forces surrounded the entrance ahead of a session of the newly-installed constitutional assembly in which the pro-government body is expected to debate the onetime loyalist turned arch critic's removal. (AP Photo/Wil Riera)Photo: Wil Riera, STR

5of14Newly ousted Venezuelan General Prosecutor Luisa Ortega﻿, third from left, is surrounded by loyal employees﻿ as she was barred from entering her office by security forces ﻿in Caracas﻿ Saturday.﻿ Ortega has criticized the new government.Photo: Wil Riera, STR

6of14Venezuelan General Prosecutor Luisa Ortega Diaz, left, is surrounded by loyal employees of the General Prosecutor's office, as she was barred from entering by security forces, outside of the General Prosecutor headquarters in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Aug. 5, 2017. Security forces surrounded the entrance ahead of a session of the newly-installed constitutional assembly in which the pro-government body is expected to debate the onetime loyalist turned arch critic's removal. (AP Photo/Wil Riera)Photo: Wil Riera, STR

11of14PSG fans welcome Brazilian soccer star Neymar at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, Saturday, Aug. 5, 2017, during his official presentation to fans ahead of Paris Saint-Germain's season opening match against Amiens. Neymar would not play in the club's season opener as the French football league did not receive the player's international transfer certificate before Friday's night deadline. The Brazil star became the most expensive player in soccer history after completing his blockbuster transfer from Barcelona for 222 million euros ($262 million) on Thursday. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)Photo: Francois Mori, STF

13of14PSG fans wait for Brazilian soccer star Neymar at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, Saturday, Aug. 5, 2017, during his official presentation to fans ahead of Paris Saint-Germain's season opening match against Amiens. Neymar would not play in the club's season opener as the French football league did not receive the player's international transfer certificate before Friday's night deadline. The Brazil star became the most expensive player in soccer history after completing his blockbuster transfer from Barcelona for 222 million euros ($262 million) on Thursday. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)Photo: Francois Mori, STF

CARACAS, Venezuela - A newly installed constitutional assembly ousted Venezuela's defiant chief prosecutor Saturday, a sign that President Nicolas Maduro's embattled government intends to move swiftly against critics and consolidate power amid a fast-moving political crisis.

Cries of "traitor" and "justice" erupted from the stately, neo-classical salon were 545 pro-government delegates voted unanimously to remove Luisa Ortega from her post as the nation's top law enforcement official and replace her with a staunch government supporter.

They said they were acting in response to a ruling by the government-stacked Supreme Court, which banned Ortega from leaving the country and froze her bank accounts while it weighs criminal charges against her for alleged irregularities.

Ortega, a longtime loyalist who broke with the socialist government in April, refused to recognize the decision and vowed to continue defending the rights of Venezuelans from Maduro's "coup" against the constitution "with my last breath."

"This is just a tiny example of what's coming for everyone that dares to oppose this totalitarian form of government," Ortega said in the statement she signed as chief prosecutor. "If they're doing this to the chief prosecutor, imagine the helpless state all Venezuelans live in."

Barred from building

Earlier Saturday, Ortega was pushed and barred from entering her office by dozens of national guardsmen in riot gear who took control of the entrance to the building.

She alleged that authorities were desperate to get their hands on dossiers containing information on dirty dealings by high-level officials, including sensitive details about millions of dollars in bribes paid by Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht.

Assembly delegates later swore in as her replacement Ombudsman Tarek William Saab, who was recently sanctioned by the Trump administration for failing to protect protesters from abuses in his role as the nation's top human rights official.

Members of the all-powerful constitutional assembly had pledged in their first meeting to move quickly against Maduro's opponents and didn't disappoint.

"Don't think we're going to wait weeks, months or years," former Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez said Friday after she was chosen to lead the assembly. "Tomorrow we start to act. The violent fascists, those who wage economic war on the people, those who wage psychological war, justice is coming for you."

The constitutional assembly was seated despite strong criticism from the United States, other countries and the Venezuelan opposition, which fear it will be a tool for imposing dictatorship. Supporters say it will pacify a country rocked by violent protests.

Its installation is virtually certain to intensify a political crisis that has brought four months of protests in which at least 120 people have died and hundreds more have been jailed.

Activists jailed

Maduro also wants the assembly to strip opposition lawmakers of their constitutional immunity from prosecution, saying their constant conspiring to oust him shouldn't be protected.

While members of congress say they will only be removed by force, the opposition is struggling to regain its footing in the face of the government's strong-arm tactics and the re-emergence of old, internal divisions.

Several opposition activists have been jailed in recent days, others are rumored to be seeking exile and one leader has broken ranks from the opposition alliance to say his party will field candidates in regional elections despite widespread distrust of the electoral system.

In a sign of its cowered, demoralized state, only a few hundred demonstrators showed up for a Friday protest against the constitutional assembly, one of the smallest turnouts in months. Those who did turn out said fear of arrest - rights groups claim there are more than 600 "political prisoners" jailed during the protests - may be keeping people at home but urged Venezuelans to remain mobilized.

"We shouldn't think the government is winning," said Julio Borges, president of the opposition-controlled congress, making an emotional plea for Maduro's opponents to remain on the streets and capitalize on the government's increasing international isolation. "The only thing it's doing is destroying itself and committing suicide."